50 Percent of CUs Had Fewer Members as of Q1 2016 Compared to A Year Ago

While overall credit union membership continued to grow during the year ending in the first quarter of 2016, at the median, membership was unchanged, according to the National Credit Union Administration.

Zero median membership growth means that, overall, 50 percent of federally insured credit unions had fewer members at the end of the first quarter of 2016 than a year earlier.

Over the previous year, the median membership growth rate was negative 0.4 percent, and 53 percent of credit unions lost members over the year ending in first quarter of 2015.

Membership growth over the most recent four quarters continued to be concentrated in larger credit unions. Credit unions with falling membership tended to be small; about 75 percent of those credit unions had assets of less than $50 million.

Alaska (4.0 percent) had the highest median membership growth rate over the year ending in the first quarter of 2016, followed by New Mexico (2.0 percent). Median membership growth was negative in 16 states. At the median, membership declined the most in Pennsylvania (-1.8 percent).

Read the press release.